Violet Poetry
by Kinshai
Summary: Meili finds out she's the daughter of an extremely powerful demon and that her true family has more than little secrets about their history. She sets out to become an exorcist and discover the secrets behind her birth and the murder of her demon-hunting family.
1. Chapter 1

It was a cold moonlit night. A woman stood atop a skyscraper looking down over the humans milling about like tiny ants. Her silvery blonde hair was blown back by the wind, and her violet eyes had a determined glow about them.

Behind her appeared a man dressed in a white suit and top hat, with pink and purple detailing. He was also unusually tall.

"My lady, for what reason did you call me out here at this hour?" He asked, after bowing deeply to her.

"Don't bother me with your pleasantries, Mephisto." She said, turning to face him. "You know the kind of crisis we're dealing with. You yourself just saw proof of that in Lord Satan's bastard child. Now he's found out about my daughter, and killed her father's entire family. I've already hidden her away, and I placed a seal on her power. But it won't hold forever. I called you here to ask you to, when it breaks, take her into your care. Will you?"

Mephisto sighed. "The thing is, I have this little bet going on with a friend of mine regarding Lord Satan's child. If it doesn't interfere with that, I'll help her."

"That's all I'm asking for. Now, I don't have long. I suspect I'll be Lord Satan's next kill. I trust you, Mephisto." She narrowed her eyes. "If you let me down, I'll reincarnate myself to kill you."

"I'd expect no less from you, my lady." Mephisto said with a smirk as she left.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey! This is Claire. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I worked very hard on it, and I know it's not very long. I'm new to this community, so any constructive criticism would be appreciated. Thanks again for clicking, and enjoy!_

Meili stormed out of her classroom, fuming and still clenching her fists. Another girl came out behind her, following.

"You didn't have to hit the boy." She said.

"I don't care. He was mocking me." Meili growled as she kept walking. If anyone else had said that to her, they probably would've gotten hit as well. Yukiko was Meili's only friend at this torturous place called school.

"He wasn't mocking you. He was serious when he asked you out." Yukiko insisted.

Meili paused. "Really?"

"Yeah." She said coolly. "So why don't you come back to class?"

"No thanks. If he was actually serious then, he'd be scared of me now. I'm going back to the dorms. Tell the teacher I got sick or something." She walked out of the academic building and headed toward the girls dorm. The dorms were two students to a room, and Meili and Yukiko shared a room.

"I'll tell him the usual." Yukiko said, turning to go back to the classroom on the fifth floor.

As Meili made her way across the courtyard that separated the academic and dormitory buildings, the sky began to cloud up. "Is it going to rain?" She asked it. She walked into the dorm and up to her room on the third floor, curling up on her bed. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and so she fell asleep quickly and without another thought.


	3. Chapter 3

As Meili slept, she dreamt about her past. She'd grown up in an orphanage until she'd been three years old, when a woman adopted her. The woman was elderly, and had recently lost her daughter in an accident.

Meili dreamt about the summer when she was six years old. She ran up to her adoptive mother and hugged her tightly. She was a small child then, and her hair was pulled back in messy pigtails. Scrapes covered her knees and palms, the kind of injuries children get due to their own fault.

"Nana!" She greeted, smiling wide.

Nana grinned. "Goodness! What have you been doing to get yourself so dirty?" She asked.

Meili looked up at her. "I was exploring! I found a puppy, and he started following me. And then I saw this group of kids, so I went to go play with them, but then they left, so I came back!"

Nana nodded. "Sounds like quite an adventure to me, but let's get you cleaned up."

The image blurred and faded into another scene, seven years later, when Meili was thirteen years old. She was just coming home carrying bags of food. She unlocked the door to the house. Nana had a lot of money she'd inherited from her family, so the house was large and nicely decorated.

"Nana, I'm home from school. I got a few things at the supermarket." She called, but there was no answer. She set the groceries on the counter in the kitchen. "Nana?" Meili called again. Wondering if she was taking a nap, she went to her bedroom and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, she opened the door.

In Nana's room she didn't have as many ornate decorations. She had her bed with two nightstands and a chair that faced the window. Nana was in her chair, and Meili moved towards it, thinking she'd fallen asleep in the chair, as was a habit of hers. However before she could get around to see her, the scene blurred and changed again, this time to a mere few weeks later.

Meili was outside now, in a cemetery. She stood in front of a grave as the sunset cast an orange-gold glow. Nana had passed away that day before, leaving Meili all alone. She'd left her everything, the house, her money, and her wishes. She wanted Meili to finish her school and live as though she hadn't lost the only person who considered talking to her, but Meili instead sold the house and used the money to go to a boarding school. She wanted to leave that place behind and try to forget. But this dream was proof that she hadn't, and the dull ache of the grief panged again in Meili's heart. A single tear escaped her sleeping eyes, and stained the pillow as she woke.

_Hey again! I tried to make the chapter longer this time. I wanted this chapter to be backstory, and it's actually very different from what I wrote in my notebook. Thinking about this actually got me drawing again, and I drew Meili as a child. She was very cute! Anyway, thanks for reading, and please tell me what you thought._


	4. Chapter 4

As Meili woke and sat up on the bed, another ache in her chest made her wince. This felt like something was wrong. She looked over and saw Yukiko's bed, empty and made up. The time was a few minutes past midnight. Yukiko hadn't been here all night.

Standing, Meili left the room and the dorm to look for her. Yukiko wasn't one to stay out late. She'd always say she had nothing better to do on the campus than to walk back and forth between the school and dorms.

The doors to the academic building were locked tight, so Meili safely assumed that Yukiko was not within. She realized that her friend could only be in one other place. Surrounding the school's campus was a huge forest. The wilderness was held back by a chain-link fence, but that had never stopped Meili and Yukiko from climbing over it to explore. They'd found a perfect place to go to when they were bored, and Meili went there now.

As Meili climbed the fence, she remembered the first time they'd climbed it together. She had fallen and twisted her ankle, and every time they went after that, she'd always tease her about that one thing.

Meili jumped down onto the grassy ground, bending her knees to absorb the impact. As she continued on her way, she continued feeling the pain in her chest slowly growing. When she made it to their clearing, Meili froze.

Yukiko was bound to the tree directly across the clearing, her head hanging.

"Yukiko?" Meili called, hoping she was okay.

Yukiko lifted her head. "Meili!" She pulled against the ropes binding her. "Don't come any closer!"

Meili ignored her and started into the clearing, only stopping when she saw a figure approach through the darkness. It was a woman, with straight black hair and red eyes. She could tell something about this woman was definitely off, even without the circumstances.

"Who are you?" Meili asked, her eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Now, now. That's no way to be talking to someone who holds your friend's life in the palm of their hand." The woman said.

"What do you want with her?" She asked.

The woman smirked. "Her, I don't care about. I wanted to get to you. However, now that you remind me, I don't need her anymore." She turned to face Yukiko, drawing a curved dagger from under the folds of her clothing. She held it to Yukiko's throat. "So sorry, but it's your fault for being friends with a demon's child."

"Leave her alone!" Meili shouted, running at the woman. She was smaller than her. She hoped that meant she had the upper hand. She spun in a kick, but was stunned when the woman whipped around faster than lightning to block it with both arms.

"Oho, you're pretty strong." The woman said. "But as long as you remain like that, you can't beat me."

She flung Meili back into a tree, throwing her dagger to pin her down. It stabbed into her shoulder with enough force to dig into the bark behind her. Unable to speak due to the pain, she gritted her teeth as she glared at the woman. She now had Yukiko by the throat.

"Now, then. How about we finish this thing up, hm?" She said, glancing smugly over at Meili. "Say goodbye to your friend." She began to squeeze Yukiko's throat, suffocating her. Meili winced as a sickening crack sounded, seeming louder than any other noise, and Yukiko went limp.

"This is why I hate fighting normal humans." The woman said. "It's no fun if there's no skill involved." She tossed aside Yukiko's body like a girl who'd tired of a doll.

Meili was shaking with rage by now. She lifted her hand and grabbed the hilt of the dagger pinning her down. The pain in her shoulder now was dully echoed by the pain in her heart that was in rhythm with her pulse. She felt the pain rise up suddenly, fueled by rage like a great fire, and burst into the world in flames, violet ones. All she remembered before blacking out was an image of her hands around the woman's neck and her shocked expression.

_OMG! I'm so sorry I took so long to upload. I was busy and then I couldn't think of anything, so I had to wait 'til I could. But I'm so happy about how it turned out! Even though I stayed up late several nights to work on it. Plus this is the longest chapter I've written before. Anyway, please enjoy and don't forget to please tell me your opinions!_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Meili opened her eyes to a white paneled ceiling. She sat up and looked at the empty hospital room she was in. As she turned, she felt a twinge in her shoulder. It'd been treated and bandaged. She stood up and walked to the window, where the just-risen sun was shining into the room.

As she watched the people milling around outside, Meili heard a knock at the door. "Come in." She called, not knowing who to expect.

In walked a man who, for lack of a better phrase, looked like a demented excuse for a clown. "Miss Sonohara! It is certainly good to see you awake." He tipped his hat to her. "How do you feel?"

"Not to be rude," Meili began, "But who in hell are you?"

"Who indeed." He smirked. "Do you understand how difficult it was to find you? As soon as I'd find you, you'd go and disappear again. The orphanage, your adoptive guardian, and then your school." He said, counting them off on his fingers. "Just be glad I was so intent to keep my promise."

"Promise?" Meili continued, knowing he'd dodged her question.

"The promise to your mother I made. To take you into my care, should your powers awaken."

"What do you mean by powers?" Meili asked. She couldn't remember much of what'd happened last night, only faint images.

"It's quite a long story, but I assume we must start somewhere." He smirked. "How about I begin with your mother's story?"

"Please do." Meili said, getting annoyed.

"Your mother was once Satan's right hand demon. She was the most powerful demon besides Satan himself, which is why she was kept especially close to him. He would send her in his place to do his bidding in Assiah, the human world. As time passed, she developed feelings for him, but noticed that Satan was increasingly becoming interested in Assiah. So she figured she might as well stay close to him.

"Several years later, while she was in the human world, your mother was proposed to by a human man. Seeing no harm in the union, she agreed to wed him. Two years later, she gave birth to a daughter. You. This happened at difficult time, what was called the Blue Night. The Blue Night was when Satan, in an effort to stop Exorcist Yuri Egin from being burned at the stake for carrying his children, killed dozens of clergymen. Knowing that Satan's distraction with the human world would soon disappear, she took extra measures to protect her daughter. She sealed her daughter's demonic powers within her body. However, with her abilities, the seal was not permanent. It would only last sixteen years.

"She then took her daughter and hid her far away in an orphanage. When she returned, her husband, as well as his entire family had been killed by Satan. She returned to Gehenna to confront him, he killed her as well. The rest, I'm sure you can imagine." He finished.

Meili sighed. "Well, if that was a lie, you'd have to have one hell of an imagination to come up with it. But who are you, and what do you want with me?"

"Ah, yes! Introductions. I am Mephisto Pheles, Honorary Knight of the True Cross Order and Headmaster of True Cross Academy." He made very dramatic motions with his arms as he spoke.

"Fancy titles, but what does someone like you want from me?" Meili asked.

He leaned down to meet her eyes. "I am here to offer you a full scholarship to True Cross Academy, with a few conditions." He held up a finger. "That you attend the exorcist cram school, with intentions to become an exorcist. And that you work to master your abilities."

Meili shrugged. "Why would you want a demon's daughter at your school or even to become an exorcist?"  
>"What else would one do with clay? The leaders of the True Cross Order wanted to see if you could be molded into a powerful exorcist. There's another demon's child, like you, there as well, but you can see that for yourself." He said. "Now! Yea or Nay, do you accept? Think carefully, as this is your future."<p>

Meili raised an eyebrow. "Well, I don't know how much of a choice I really have. I've no clue what else I'd do. So, sure. I'll accept your offer, and become an exorcist."

_I'm sorry I took so long! DX I was assaulted by writer's block, as well as hundreds of tests. Plus, this week is state mandated tests. Thank you if you stuck around from the beginning even through these five weeks of insanity. Thank you also if you were just bored and looking through the list and clicked on this. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll try to update soon!_


	6. Chapter 6

Meili's teeth clenched and her hands tightened into fists as she walked up to True Cross academy. As school regulation, she had to wear the proper uniform, which meant a skirt. She detested skirts so much that she'd bothered to get her hands on a boy's uniform and had worn that at her last school. The teachers had been so surprised that she'd done so that they didn't bother telling her off. Then again, it may have

In addition, the discovery that she'd somehow grown a tail during her unconscious hours didn't make things any better. Meili was more surprised, though, that she hadn't noticed it sooner. It hadn't been until she'd started changing into the uniform that she saw the black furry appendage with a tuft of purple fur at the end. Once she got over the fact that she had a tail, she turned to how she was going to hide it, especially when she had to wear a skirt. The only choice she really had was to hide it under her shirt, wound around her waist.

After picking up her class number and schedule, along with a map of the school, Meili found her classroom introduced herself, and took an empty seat by the window as the teacher began the lesson.

When the final bell rang, sounding that school was over, Meili took out the key to the cram school Mephisto had given her.

"Insert this into any door's lock and it will open up into the cram school." He'd instructed her.

She took the clown guy's advice and found a storeroom door. She inserted the key into the lock and turned the door's handle, opening up into a tall corridor. As she walked she saw another student, one she recognized from her class. He had black hair and blue eyes, and didn't seem to care much about classes. He was always sleeping and didn't know the answers to the questions he was awake enough to be asked. However, unlike herself, he seemed to know where he was going, so she followed him into a classroom. There were other students, three guys sitting together, and two girls sitting seperately, as well as one guy sitting separately. She bowed to them as she introduced herself.

"My name is Meili Sonohara, I look forward to working with you." She said, before sitting down behind the black haired boy, who turned to face her.

"Hey, my name's Rin Okumura. So you transferred here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Uh, yeah. I got a scolarship offer here, so I came over from my school." Meili replied, hesitantly.

"Huh… So why are you in the exorcist cram school?" Rin asked, cocking his head to the side like a confused puppy.

"Um, you see…" Meili stuttered. Luckily while she was floundering, the instructor happened to walk in.

"Please quiet down and prepare to take notes." The teenage bespectacled exorcist said, setting down a clipboard very official-like. The rest of the class groaned as they reluctantly complied.

"Wait so he's our teacher?" Meili asked Rin in hushed tones.

Rin pouted at his pencil. "Yeah, he's my kid brother, Yukio." He whispered back.

"Huh," Meili began writing as Yukio started the lesson. _So they even let kids become exorcists?_ She thought to herself. _ Harsh world._

At the end of the lesson, Meili left the cram school and dug out her map to search for her dorm. As she walked, she started to think she'd had a trick played on her. She ended up in front of a dormitory building that looked deserted. Nevertheless, she figured she might as well check, so she took a breath and opened the door to the dorm.

Her room number was 604, on the second floor. The lights were on, so she figured someone else had to be around, only she saw no one. Feeling a little creeped out, she pressed on until she found room 604. As Meili looked around, she noticed a few doors down the room light was on and that she could hear voices. Curious, she went to see who it was.

Meili was about to knock on the door to room 602 when Rin burst through the door and their heads collided with a resounding thunk, leaving Meili with her ears ringing and stars dancing in her eyes.

_Hey! Claire again! So very sorry I took so long! I had finals with school and another case of writer's block. In truth, this chapter gave me hell. I really hope you like it, even with its abrupt end. I really was sick of being stuck at the same part for weeks because I couldn't think of anything. But I finally finished it, and I hope the next chapter won't give me so much trouble. Anyway, thanks for reading, and please tell me what you thought._


	7. Chapter 7

Regaining her composure, Meili looked up at the face belonging to the person she'd collided with. "Rin?"

"Sonohara-san? What are you doing here?" Rin asked, rubbing the red spot on his forehead where they'd collided.

"My room is right down the hall. Why are you guys alon—" Meili stopped when she saw a familiar furry appendage waving behind Rin. "Wha? You have a tail too?"

"Well, yeah." Rin scratched the back of his head, stopping when something occurred to him. "But what do you mean by 'too'?"

Meili laughed nervously, her tail unwinding around her waist to reveal itself. "This is just a bit awkward… Should I explain myself first?"

"I believe that to be best" Yukio advised, walking up behind Rin.

After explaining her situation to Rin and Yukio, Meili sighed. "So, that's it."

"So what about your human family?" Yukio asked.

"All dead or they don't know I exist. I wouldn't know where to start looking anyway." Meili leaned back against the chair she was sitting in, her tail twitching a bit. "Anyway, I'm going to bed. We'll sort out the issue about us sharing a dorm tomorrow. For now, don't enter any bathrooms without knocking" She stood up and left the guys' room and walked two doors down to her own room. She walked in, shut the door behind her, and flopped onto her bed.

"This is going to be crazy, isn't it?" Meili asked no one. She closed her eyes and fell asleep before she could think of much else.

_Meili was alone in blackness. She could feel the ground under her feet, only she couldn't see it. Disoriented, she began to feel around in the dark for something, anything._

"_Hello? Is anyone there?" She called without much hope. As she listened, she could hear what sounded like voices, only she couldn't hear what they were saying. Then something grabbed her hand with a grip like a vice. Meili's heart sank as she turned to see the culprit._

_It was a woman with hair straight as silk. The silver blonde strands blew in some wind from another time. Meili could recognize the familiar face shape and violet eyes from her own. The eyes held something… Regret? Sadness? Before she could think of much else, she felt the ground fall under her. The woman fell with her, only without the appearance of falling. She reached her hand forward, held Meili's face in her hand, and kissed her forehead before disappearing back into the darkness._

Meili jolted upright in bed, gasping. She sat there for a few minutes while her pulse returned to normal and she remembered where she was. She exhaled deeply while running her hand through her purple streaked black hair. That was the first time she'd ever dreamt so vividly. She still could remember the feeling of the woman's hand on her face. She had a hunch on the identity, but as soon as that thought occurred in her mind, she pushed it away.

After looking at the time, she figured she had enough to take a shower before school started. Grabbing a change of clothes, she headed out of her room looking for the bath. She found it soon enough, and went in. While the bathwater ran, Meili undressed. When it finished, she sank into the warm water with a refreshed sigh.

After her bath, with the room fogged up from the steamy heat. Meili dried herself off and drained the water. As she began to get dressed, the door opening made her freeze.

Meili became embarrassingly aware that she was only wearing pants with no bra as she saw Rin standing in the doorway holding his own change of clothes as well as a toothbrush. "Wha- uh… Sorry!" he darted out and the door slammed shut. Meili hurriedly finished dressing before leaving the bathroom. Rin was standing outside the door.

"I told you to knock on the bathroom door." Meili growled.

"I didn't see anything!" He pleaded. "It was too steamy, so I couldn't see clearly."

Meili narrowed her eyes. She normally would have beaten any other guy in this situation to within an inch of his life, but in this case, since he was in the same living quarters, she figured she'd better not do so. She sighed. "Well, I guess since you didn't see anything, I won't hit you. Just don't let it happen again." Meili turned and walked, pulling back her hair as she walked.

At school that day, Meili couldn't really pay attention. She took her notes, but she didn't pay much attention to what she was writing. The image of the woman's face from her dream kept recurring in her mind. Had it really been her mother? Why was she appearing in her dreams? And did it have something to do with Meili's demonic powers awakening? Meili decided the only way to find any answers would be to look for herself.

_Hello! This is Claire. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Oh , and in the last chapter at the end one of the sentences was cut off. Just ignore that sentence fragment. I'd been thinking of putting something and changed my mind. This chapter came pretty smoothly, as you can probably tell. I'll have some free time, so the chapters will be uploaded more often. Again, I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading! Please feel free to review and subscribe._


	8. Chapter 8

_Hey Guys! I'm so glad to finally be writing again! I have to tell you, I had some very horrible writer's block that lasted about a month or three. As soon as I put out the chapter before this, I could not write at all. It got so bad I was crying when I couldn't write what I needed for my English class. Then my favorite artist of all, David Liu (I think….) gave me support on Twitter. I finally buckled down and started writing, and I was able to write well again! Anyway, please tell me what you think and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! 3_

Meili walked back to class, feeling mentally exhausted. She jumped when Rin spoke behind her.

"Hey, Meili, you never said which meister title you were going to choose." He asked.

"Oh, well, I'm really only good with my fists. I'm too clumsy to use swords, and I really don't technological savvy for guns. I've never been good at memorizing stuff, and healing doesn't really appeal to me." Meili commented.

"That really only leaves becoming a Tamer, we have a few here at the academy. Izumo Kamiki and Shiemi Moriyama, though Shiemi's summon is smaller than Izumo's. You should talk to one of them about becoming a tamer."

"Thanks, I will:" Meili smiled. She looked up as they made it to their dorm building. "Hey, do you mind if we can study together? It gets boring doing homework all alone."

Rin smiled. "I don't mind at all, though I probably won't be much help. I'm not too good at all the stuff. It's really complicated, and I'm more of an 'In the Field' type of person."

"Still, it's good to have someone to work with. You know the saying, two heads are better than one?" Meili asked. "If there's something we don't know, we can work together to figure it out."

Rin nodded. "Yeah, we'll do that."

As they walked inside the dorm building, Meili felt a dull ache in her chest, but it was only a pulse of pain that quickly subsided. She forgot about it before its familiarity sank in.

"Really? I don't get it still…" Rin furrowed his brow in confusion. They'd been working on homework for both school and the cram school for a couple of hours, and outside the sun was sinking below the horizon in a great blaze of reds, oranges and yellows. Some of the cram school homework had stumped them, but some of the notes Meili had taken saved them. Now they were working on math.

"See, you just substitute this equation for that variable. Then you work it out to get the answer." Meili pointed to the problem and wrote out the equation.

"Augh! I hate math!" Rin said. "How's this supposed to help me become an exorcist?!"

"Um, it won't. It's meant to help us graduate from the academy. Just grin and bear it, because it won't last forever." Meili shrugged. She glanced over at the clock. "It's pretty late. I'm going to go ahead and go to bed." Meili stood up and gathered her things together.

Rin nodded. "Goodnight."

Meili walked down the dark hallway to her room and entered, setting her bag down by the door and trudging over to her bed. Maybe it was the added cram School work, but she felt more exhausted lately than ever. Meili flopped down onto her bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. Her mind wanted her to sleep forever, but all of a sudden her body felt ready to get up and run a marathon. Her heart felt like she had just done so.

Feeling something was wrong, Meili got out of bed. She swayed on her feet, and the room spun a little, making her feel like vomiting. She braced herself on her hands and knees as her chest burned hotter than fire. She recognized this feeling, from one other time: the night Yukiko had died. Meili stood up. She knew she had to leave, to go as far from this place as possible before she lost control; before her demonic side broke free and ran amok.

Meili stumbled out of her room and into the hallway, trying to suppress the rising power within her body. However, she fought a losing battle, and the all too familiar purple flames began to surface on her skin. As they spread, Meili began to panic. Her vision started to fade, and she had a sense of falling into darkness.

The foot of Meili's bedside table hitting her head as she fell from the bed woke her with a jolt of pain. Barely keeping from cursing to alleviate her pain, she groaned as she held the new bump on her head gravity was so kind to give her. She stood up and walked over to the window, pulling aside the curtain to let the early morning sunlight pour in. She still felt shaken by her nightmare, and curious about why she'd had a dream like that.

"Maybe it's because I really am afraid of that happening." She said aloud to herself, then she shook her head and woke herself up a bit. She couldn't worry about these kinds of things. She still had school today, and time was going to pass without her or not, so she quickly began getting ready for school, making sure to hide her tail under her shirt like always.


	9. Chapter 9

_Hey Guys! It's good to write to you again. I had a really good breakthrough with the plot, and it should last a good 5 chapters or so. Marching band just ended and I finally have some free time. I'm getting really excited for Christmas, too! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please tell me what you think with a review! Also if you have any questions._

As the sun rose and illuminated the sky in a rainbow of colors, a young man stood atop a skyscraper, leaning against a support for the antenna. As he watched the sky turn colors, a small bird like creature flitted over to him.

"You failed. How could you let her wake up?" He mumbled to it, his green eyes narrowing in anger. He grabbed the demon out of the air and crushed it, turning it into little bubbles of light. The bubbles seeped into his palm, and the man sighed. "So this'll be more difficult than I originally thought." He pulled out a cell phone, dialed a number, and pushed send, putting the phone to his ear while it rang.

"Hey, this is Kurai. I need a favor that could use your talents." He said, walking towards the exit.

Meili trudged back to the dorms after school to drop off her belongings before cram school. She had lost sleep due to her nightmare, and was exhausted now because of it.

"Hey, Meili!" She jumped as Rin walked up behind her.

"Oh, hi Rin." Meili sighed.

"What's wrong? You seem tired." He looked concerned.

"I had a bad dream last night and couldn't sleep well." Meili was sort of touched that he cared about her enough to ask.

"So… um… Are you planning on going to the dance?" Rin asked, looking away.

"Dance? I didn't know this school had that kind of thing. When is it?" Meili's eyes turned to Rin.

"It's this weekend. Saturday evening at 7 pm." Rin answered, turning back to her. "Do you want to go together?" His face deepened in color as he spoke.

Meili smiled. "Sure! We can take the others too. It'd be fun to go as a group."

Rin sighed. "Sure. Sounds great…" His eyes slid away from them and their path, his lower lip pushing out in a pouty expression.

They arrived at the dorm within a few minutes, dropped off their books, and used their key to go to the cram school. Meili slid into her seat behind Rin and sighed. Shiemi, who sat next to Rin turned to talk to her.

"Good afternoon, Meili. You look tired." Shiemi smiled innocently.

"Yeah…" Meili sighed. "Hey, do you want to go shopping this afternoon after cram school? I need a dress for the dance, and it'll be boring shopping alone. You're going, too, right?"

Shiemi's face reddened. "I-I don't know… I'm not so good around big groups of people, and I don't know anyone who goes to the academy besides all of the cram school people."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. I'll make sure everyone else comes, too. I bet at least one of the guys would like to dance with you." Meili smiled. "And it'd be a good opportunity to meet new friends. If it turns out to be too much for you, you can leave. I'll come with you."

Shiemi tapped her fingers together, thinking carefully. "Well, I guess I can go for a little while… I think it might be nice seeing all the guys in their full uniform for once. Plus, I've never worn a western style dress."

Meili nodded. "See? Everybody wins! So I know a few shops that'll work. We'll ride the trains out, and use the keys to get back. Sound okay?"

Shiemi nodded. "Yeah."

Meili sat back in her chair as Yukio came in and started the lesson. She scrawled down the notes in her spiral as her mind wandered to other things. Soon, she was in a state of mine where the time passed so fast it was like she had slept the entire class.

Or maybe she had, because she woke to the unfriendly sound of Yukio's clipboard slamming on the desk right by her head. Her head rose slowly, eyes blurry and a big red spot where her head had made contact with the desk. "Oh, Sorry."

Yukio just sighed and continued with the lesson. Only a few minutes after, however, the bell rang sounding the end of class. Meili walked around the desk and stopped in front of Shiemi. "Ready to go? Or do you want to stop at your home first?" She asked.

"I'll just go home really fast with my key to drop my stuff off and pick up some money." Shiemi replied. "Do you just want to wait in here until I get back?"

"How about I meet you at the station, okay?" Meili said. As they both nodded to each other and Shiemi left, Yukio called Meili over.

"Is something wrong?" Meili asked.

"It's just that you haven't yet selected a meister title." Yukio pointed out. "I know it is an important decision, but you also came into this class in the middle of the curriculum. Were there any you had in mind?"

Meili frowned. This had been a hard thing to go over. "I'm not really sure I have the mindset for them. When I think about it, I manage to find several reasons for each to not participate in that category. I've only ever fought using my fists, and I've had martial arts training since I was young."

Yukio stayed silent for a moment. Thinking, Meili assumed. Then he sighed. "Well, I have an idea that may work, but I'll need to make a few calls. See me after class tomorrow and I may have something different."

"What are you thinking?" Meili asked.

"There used to be an old group of monks who gained titles as exorcists, but never obtained meister titles. They were hand-to-hand combat users. I'll need to check, but some of their descendants may still be around. We could see if they could train you." Yukio stood up, pushed in his seat, and walked with Meili to the door.

"Okay. That's good to hear. Thank you" Meili said. She hoped he would find something. Being useless in battle was one thing Meili hated. If she could be of any use, it would be in this manner.


	10. Chapter 10

Meili walked down the station platform to where Shiemi was smiling and waving. They managed to catch a train to the shopping district right before it left. They sat facing each other on the train, talking. Meili's mouth turned up at the corner in a half smile as she looked out the window.  
>"So what do you think about Rin?" Shiemi asked. "You're always around him."<p>

Meili's face flushed. "What? I only am because we're in the same class. And as far as dorms, there wasn't room in any girl's dorm, so they had to put me in Rin's dorm." Meili waved her hand to the side. "What about you? You also seem pretty close to both of the brothers."

Shiemi smiled. "I knew Yuki from when we both were pretty young. I met him when he had just become an exorcist. I've only known Rin for a few months, so I'm not as close to him. But they're still very important people to me."

The train soon made its stop in the shopping district, and Meili dragged Shiemi to a dress shop with big window displays and a frilly sign. Together, they gathered a dozen dresses and set to trying them on, modeling in front of the three sided mirror. Meili ended up picking an elegant dress with black and white satin and a black flame pattern, while Shiemi picked a green dress with soft pink accents. They stood at the register to buy the dresses, and Meili sighed. She had never really done anything like this before.

As they walked back to the train station, the sun began to set, turning the sky into fire. They caught the last train to the academy and sat the same way as when coming.

"What about your family?" Shiemi asked.

"I don't know my real family. I was adopted by an old woman who died before I finished middle school. Before that, I only get small flashes of an orphanage. I was really young then. I hope to someday find out who my family was and what they did." Meili sighed. She didn't like having to lie about this, but it was half true. She really did want to look into her extended family, but she already knew enough about her parents.

Soon, the train pulled into the station and Meili and Shiemi disembarked and started heading back, splitting up on the way when their paths diverged. It was nighttime on the school grounds now, and it was almost eerie. Meili shook it off, though. She could easily handle any late night stalker hanging around. She walked with a straight back and made her way back to the dorm and poked her head into Rin and Yukio's room. Rin was lying on his back and reading manga, while Yukio was working at his desk on schoolwork. Meili had this odd thought that this was one of those few times Yukio was doing something any student would do. Rin however, was behaving as usual. He sat up as he saw Meili look in.

"Hi, Meili. How'd your outing go?" He asked.

Meili held up her dress in the plastic bag. "We scored big, but you'll have to wait for the dance to see. Goodnight." Meili waved and left their room, heading to her own. She hung the dress, still in the plastic bag, inside her closet. As she closed the door and turned around, she decided that she should go ahead and take a bath before bed. She grabbed her toiletry bag and her pajamas and headed across the hall to the bath. On the door, there was a newly written sign taped to the front at eye-level.

"Girls Only! Please use the bathroom on the other side!" It said in big letters. She had written that sign after the incident before. Meili shook her head at the thought and pushed open the door. She started the water running in the bath and began undressing, leaving her clothes in one of the baskets. She still was unsure of her idea of having a tail, but it didn't really feel foreign. It just felt like a part of her, and she figured she'd accept that.

Meili sank into the warm water, sighing. _Warm baths are the best when you want to relax_, Meili thought, smiling. As she closed her eyes to her thoughts, the thought that she'd pushed away earlier came back. She thought about her new friends, her lost family, and lastly, the ticking time bomb that was her power.

Meili wrapped her arms around her knees and gripped her shoulders. She wondered about what would happen if she lost control. What if her friends found out about her abilities? What if she hurt them? If another demon came to kill her friends like with Yukiko?

Meili killed those questions in her mind. They were simply too painful to answer. She was surprised with herself for caring for her friends so extensively. Before, Yukiko had been her only friend, and they were very close. Yukiko had just sort of walked up one day and started hanging around her every day.

Tired of her own thoughts, Meili got up and stepped out of the bath. She dried herself off and got dressed in her pajamas. On her way out of the bathroom, she grabbed her toiletry bag and her dirty clothes, and went back to her bedroom. Thoughtlessly, she dropped her bag by the door and the clothes by that. She walked over to her bed and laid down. She focused on clearing her mind of thought, especially of the ones that would upset her. Within moments, she fell into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

_Hello again! Thank you for reading this! I really hoped you liked it lots. It took me a while with this chapter. I took a break in the middle and didn't finish it until the eleventh of January. I'm really excited for this plot, but it might be hard to put into words… Anyway, thanks again for reading this and please share this and recommend it!_


	11. Chapter 11

"Hold still, I need to concentrate."

Meili had her eyes closed as Izumo painted liquid eyeliner on the upper eyelid. Over to the side, Izumo's friend Paku was powdering a soft pink blush on Shiemi's cheekbones. All four of their dresses were laid across Meili's bed and they were sitting on the floor of her room. Earlier, Shiemi had come to Meili asking for help getting ready for the dance. Meili had almost been thinking the same thing, and so they'd called Izumo and Paku for help.

When Izumo finished painting the eyeliner on, Meili opened her eyes slightly, trying not to ruin the makeup. She wasn't used to doing these things, but it was sort of fun. As she felt the eyeliner dry, she opened her eyes fully.

"Is that it?" She asked. It was about a half hour until the dance, and Meili wanted to make sure she could meet the others in time.

Izumo nodded. "Yeah. That's it. By the way, you might want to go check in on the boys. Make sure they don't mess up."

Meili nodded. "Sure." She stood up and walked to the door. Her elaborately made up face contrasted her short shorts and her tank top greatly. She opened the door and walked down the hallway a couple of doors to Rin and Yukio's room. Coming to a stop, she knocked on the door lightly.

"Come in." Rin said from the other side, and he opened the door. He was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, looking like he'd woken up an hour ago with awful bed head. "Wow. You look… good." He smiled.

"What've you been doing this whole time? I thought you'd be getting ready." Meili frowned, looking Rin up and down.

"I was about to get ready. It's not like there's that much to do." Rin said, scratching the back of his head. "I just wear my uniform as usual, right?"

"No! You need to wear your full uniform. Don't be lazy!" Meili said, getting mad.

Rin sighed. "Fine." He started moving around, pulling out his uniform.

"Where is Yukio?" Meili asked, looking around in their room. He wasn't there, and his coat was gone.

"He had some sort of mission, I think. He's been gone all day." Rin said, dusting off the shoulders of his jacket. "I've got to change now, so could you leave?"

Meili sighed and left his room and walked back to her own room, opening the door and walking in. Shiemi and the others were beginning to put on their dresses, and Izumo turned to Meili when she entered.

"Well, are they ready?" Izumo asked.

"Yukio had a mission or something, and I told Rin to get ready. He'll be dressed soon." Meili was about to start getting dressed, but remembered her tail. "I'm going to get dressed in the bathroom. I've got this scar I'm self-conscious about." She grabbed her dress and left the room before any of them could say anything. She went into the bathroom and immediately changed into her dress, slipping the dress over her face without messing up her hair or make up. She then took a quick glance in the mirror to make sure everything was still in place. When she saw that all was good, she tucked her tail away among the folds in her dress.

As she walked out of the bathroom, she saw Rin walking down the hall, wearing his uniform, his jacket unbuttoned and his bed head still as lively.

"Rin. Come here." She called him over. "You need to button your jacket." She buttoned the jacket up, smiling. She smoothed out the jacket against his chest and her hands slowed as she realized what she was doing. Her face burned red, and she removed her hands. She turned away, scrambling for words. "Y-your hair." She said. "I'll fix it." She walked into the bathroom and came back with a cupped handful of water. She dipped her right fingers into the water and began smoothing down the monstrous bed head.

Once his hair was tamed, Meili sighed. "There. It's better now." She smiled.

Rin patted the top of his head, feeling that it was straightened and only slightly damp. "… Thanks." He smiled at her.

Meili blushed again, though it was slightly less noticeable than before. "Yeah. No problem. How about you wait while I go check to see if the others are ready?" She asked, looking away.

"Um, sure." He answered, looking a bit puzzled. "You're okay, aren't you? Your face is red." He reached to put a hand on her forehead.

Meili stepped away from his hand. "It's fine!" She reassured him. "I'm just really excited for the dance!" She spun and walked back to her room. When she opened the door, she saw that the other girls were finishing getting ready. Paku was in a soft pink dress with lace trim that suited her hair color perfectly. Izumo was wearing a black backless dress with gold rings holding the strap and lining the neck.

"Okay! Let's get going!" Meili smiled as they walked out together and met Rin, whose eyes traveled over the group of them before resting on Meili.

"Well… Shall we go?" He asked.

They met the others at the entrance to the school. Shima cracked a few smart remarks to Izumo and Paku, resulting in his receiving of a well placed insult from Izumo. Meili laughed with the others before they headed into the ballroom. There were lavish decorations all over the room, and food and drink lined the far wall. Girls in satin and lace dotted the floor, while the boys lined the walls sitting in chairs and leaning against the molded walls. Meili's faced brightened with the lights up high above her. Outside, the sun was beginning to set, and lanterns were hung off the wall. There was a balcony that overlooked the courtyard of the academy.

"It's so pretty!" Shiemi exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with the light above her.

Meili turned as a live orchestra began playing. She listened as a beautiful lilting waltz began playing. Several girls who had managed to coax their dates from the edge of the room began to twirl with their partners. Meili felt like she would stand out if she tried dancing. She'd never been taught how to dance formally. She stood to the back as the others went ahead. After a few minutes, Rin walked up to her holding two glasses of punch from the bowl at the other end of the room.

"Are you okay? Why aren't you out there dancing?" He asked.

Meili smiled nervously. "I've never learned how to dance. I would just embarrass myself out there."

Rin frowned for a bit. Meili got the feeling that he'd wanted to dance with her.

"Do you want to go to the balcony? I'd like to see the sun set." Meili said, taking his hand and pulling him across the dance floor. They had to dodge a few dancing couples, and Meili caught a glimpse of Shima flirting as usual with a group of girls. Shiemi was filling a plate with sweets along with Izumo and Paku.

Meili reached out her hand and turned the doorknob, opening it and walking into the cool night air. The sun was barely hanging over the horizon, and it was drowsily sinking lower. Meili stepped over to the balcony's edge, her heels clicking on the stone floor. Out here it was quiet, and only the loudest noises bled out from the ballroom. Rin walked up beside her, leaning on the railing and turning to face her. As Meili stared at the sun, she sighed. The new silence seemed to have dragged back the thoughts from a few days ago, and her face darkened.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked.

Meili faced him. "How did you feel when you found out you were half demon?"

Rin frowned. "Well, since it came along with my dad's death, I was pretty upset. I'm always scared, too, that it'll take me over and make me hurt my friends."

"I see. I was feeling like that, too." Meili said, turning as the sun fell below the horizon at last, only an orange glow remaining where it'd been. "I get scared that I'll hurt the others. I'm especially scared for you, knowing you feel the same things I do. But at least you have some control of your powers. I feel like mine could just go crazy any time."

Rin stopped her by laying his hand over hers. "It's okay. If you lose control, I'll stop you before you can hurt anyone."

_I've decided I'm going to stop this chapter here. I had a hard time actually stopping this chapter. Everything flowed so well that I couldn't find a stopping point. So you get an extra long chapter this time! I've gotten to where I only write Monday to Friday because of school. I really like how much this plot has developed._

_I failed my third six weeks of economics… So I'm ineligible and I can't play a solo or ensemble this year for band. Luckily, I can still sing my solo and ensemble for choir. I was sitting writing during band, and one of my friends walked up to me shaking his head. (Jokingly) I told him I was writing fanfiction and he asked what gay couple I was putting together. I simply told him that not all fanfiction was gay couples. (Though it does seem like there is a lot of that…)_

_Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I forgot to celebrate for the tenth chapter! This has really changed a lot from what I first imagined, but it turned out well!_


	12. Chapter 12

Meili sighed and took Rin's hand in both of hers as the sun's light faded and darkness settled. "I don't want you to get hurt." She said, placing his hand on her cheek

"I won't. I'm a lot tougher than I look." Rin smiled. He then blushed a bit and pulled his hand gently away. "Um, how about I get you another drink?" He asked nervously.

Meili smiled. "That sounds nice." She watched him walk away. She turned back to the balcony and stared out over the courtyard. She looked over the grassy fields that turned into green forests.

As she looked at the trees, she saw a flash of light, and her chest ached. Meili jumped, her hand reaching to her chest. This was a real feeling. Meili looked over to the light from the ballroom. She couldn't make it through the room, because there were so many people. She looked to the edge of the balcony and saw a trellis lining the wall on the side. She stumbled over and began climbing down, leaving her shoes on the railing. A few feet from the bottom, her heart pulsed in stronger pain and she lost her grip and fell the rest of the distance onto the hard ground. Her breath leaving her for a half a minute, she gasped lungfuls of air and got back to her feet. She turned back to the forest of trees, and decided that that was her best bet to get away from the academy. She staggered across the grass field into the trees, using their trunks for balance.

Meili's chest began hurting more and more until it consumed her thoughts. All she was concerned about was stopping it. She stumbled over a root and fell onto the grass, her hands catching her. As she lifted her head, she became aware of another presence, an unfamiliar one. She watched as a young man stepped out from behind a tree and turn to face her. He had dark hair and eyes. Meili couldn't tell the color in the dark and it was not necessarily a concern of hers, considering she was in pain that felt like her chest being pried open.

"Who… ugh… are you?" Meili stammered through the pain.

"Oh, Meili. You look like you're in pain. It'd be a lot easier to give in to your slow transformation. Then I could kill you without so much trouble." He stepped closer to her, pulling out a large sword with skulls adorning the hilt and pommel.

Meili began to see her flames appear on her body, spreading first from her balled fists and last to her arched back. The pain slowly lessened, and she stood shakily on her feet. Her demonic eyes turned upward at the man.

"Who are you?" She repeated.

The man chuckled. "I'm so sad you don't know me already, Meili. After all, I did send that demoness after you. She did an awful job, though. It's so difficult finding good assassins. I just had to come out here myself."

"You sent the demon that killed Yukiko?" Meili's eyes darkened, and her fists tightened.

The man smiled. "Oh, so that was her name? She seemed pretty important to you. In hindsight, that did speed up your transformation, but you also killed my assassin."

"This is the last time. I'd like to know the name of the man I kill." Meili said, the flames growing around her fists and her eyes glinting in the glow.

"My name is Kurai. I'm a member of the Sonohara family, who were killed in the blue night because of your mother." Kurai raised his sword. "So, I'm required to kill you in revenge for them all."

Meili stepped back. This situation was getting bad for her. She was just thinking she should run when her consciousness flickered and chased that thought away. She slid into a fighting pose fluidly as she spoke. "If you want to think that way, then I also should kill you in revenge for Yukiko."

Kurai stepped forward, and then disappeared. He moved so fast, Meili could barely follow his movements. Frustrated, she swung her fist, only to have contact with nothing but the air. In response, she felt a large gash open up across her back where Kurai cut her with his sword.

During the whole fight, Meili kept getting more furious. It was like being in her demonic state kept her from controlling her emotions. She got more distracted by her anger, more sloppy in her motions.

Kurai stopped moving all around her, and Meili slumped to her knees. She was covered in cuts and gashes, dripping blood onto the dress she wore. She looked forward and saw Kurai standing a dozen feet from her. Meili's boiling point was reached, and she ran at Kurai again, completely unguarded. Kurai reached his hand forward and caught her, stopping her motion with his hand against her shoulder without even being moved himself.

Meili's eyes widen as she felt Kurai begin to drain her power. Her flames shrank to near nothingness before she could jump away from him, landing on the grass. As her bare feet touched grass, her head spun and she fell over, only to be caught by someone.

"Rin?" Meili's eyes opened. He set her down on the grass gently before turning to Kurai, holding his sheathed sword in his hand.

The wicked grin that'd been on Kurai's face the whole time faltered. "Son of Satan, You cannot stop me from exacting my revenge. It is fate that Meili die by my hand. You can only delay the inevitable." His last words faded into echoes as he melted into the darkness around them.

_Hello! This chapter came really fast! I really hope it didn't drain my writing skill like last time I put out two chapters in one month. I think I'm going to be okay. I hope… X3. Anyway, please tell me what you thought of this chapter! _

_I realized it has almost been a year since I started this fanfiction. It just warms my heart to think that this story has lasted this long, and that I hope it will continue for quite a while. I do plan for this story to end, I just don't know when. Still, next chapter will be coming soon, I hope!_


	13. Chapter 13

Meili opened her eyes and gasped. She saw the ceiling of her own dorm room and sighed, relaxing. Her breathing was slow, but her ribcage was sore as it flexed with her lungs. She hadn't tried moving yet, and was about to, when she noticed Rin sleeping. He was bent over the edge of her bed, breathing heavily, like he was exhausted. Meili smiled a bit, and then reached her bandaged arm over to touch his face.

Rin's eyes opened, clouded by sleep. When it cleared, he jumped and almost fell back in his seat as he noticed he'd fallen asleep right by Meili. "Um… Yeah. Meili?"

Meili sat up, wincing. "Yeah. I'm awake. Are you okay?"

Rin smiled. "I'm fine. How are you?"

"Sore as hell, but I'm still alive." Meili sighed, feeling more comfortable now that she was upright.

"So who was that guy who attacked you?" Rin asked. "He seemed to be only interested in you, and left when I came."

Meili looked down. "He told me he was a member of my father's family, and that they were all killed because of my mother in the Blue Night."

"He could've just been trying to shake you up in order to weaken you." Rin commented.

"He didn't need to weaken me. He was already much stronger than me. There was no reason for him to lie." Meili's eyes narrowed.

"Still," Rin insisted, "That was no reason for him to come after you. Your mom's actions aren't your fault."

Just then, as Meili silently contemplated, a tall young man burst in. His shaggy golden hair fell around the frame of his face and his blue-gray eyes glinted in the light from outside. Behind him, Yukio looked a bit unpleased at the situation. Meili stared as he turned to face her.

"Are you Meili?" The man asked sharply, making her jump.

"Y-yes." Meili replied. "Who are you?"

Yukio stepped forward. "Do you remember when I said I would look up descendents of those warrior monks? Well, he is the only one left. That is the reason I was missing the night you sustained your injuries. I was retrieving him."

The man turned to Yukio. "You didn't say she was a girl. How am I supposed to spar with a woman?"

Meili took this chance to speak up. "I can fight fine; just as good as any man or woman." Meili's eyes narrowed. She'd dealt with this before. Guys wouldn't be willing to hit her or would go easy on her. Meili would just hit them with full force anyway and catch them off guard.

"It's not how you fight, it's how you take a hit." The man said, looking back over to her. "You're also injured. I can't wait around while you recuperate."

Meili shook her head. "I heal fast, a lot faster than any normal human. I should be healed within three days well enough to fight."

The man sighed, looking around at the lot of them. "Oh, fine. We'll start in three days. My name's Asher, by the way." He held out his hand.

"Meili." She replied, gripping Asher's hand determinedly.

Soft daylight shone through Meili's dorm room window. Meili walked away from her closet wearing shorts and a black knit tank top. Her tail bobbed behind her as she pulled her hair together into a ponytail, humming a tune as she did. All these last three days she had focused on getting well and strong enough to fight and train. She had not seen Asher at all in that time, though she'd heard he was seen around the whole campus of the Academy.

Meili shook her hair in its scrunchie and spun, walking out the door into the hallway.

_Hey readers! I decided to continue in another chapter, since I feel like this should be the end of this chapter._

_My grades have finally gotten better! I had perfect scores in band, choir, and fashion design. (But those are easy, right?) My only not so great score was in Pre-cal. Maybe because I keep just writing in that class…_

_I'm going to New York in April with choir! It'll be my first plane ride and the farthest I've gone from home. I'm a little nervous, but everything should go well. Thank you for reading, and please tell me your opinions and your praises!_


	14. Chapter 14

Meili looked around as they entered a huge fitness room. She walked behind Asher to a large area where the floor was covered in pads. "Wow. They really prepare for these things well."

Asher stepped onto the pads, and then beckoned her onto them as well. "I'll need to spar with you first, so I know how much you need to learn. Just come at me."

Meili snickered. "You sure?"

"Absolutely." Asher remarked, sliding into stance.

She shrugged and fell into stance as well, looking carefully at her opponent. After a few seconds, she ran at him, her fist raised for a powerful blow on his shoulder. Asher dodged around her attack and countered with a kick to the middle of her back.

Meili staggered and nearly tumbled to the ground. She regained her footing and whipped back around to face Asher, deducing her next attack. Before she could make her move, Asher took the offensive and cut under her legs, knocking Meili to the floor. She gasped a lungful of air before pushing herself back up and swinging her fist at him again.

Asher took everything coolly, analyzing every move of Meili and responding with his own motions. As Meili attacked him, he simply swept her attack aside and knocked her to the ground, pinning her.

"You're wide open." Asher commented. "Your attacks are too wide and you don't have the capacity to protect yourself with that."

"Dammit! Let me up!" Meili sprung back to her feet. "I just haven't done this enough lately. I'm rusty."

"That's no excuse." Asher said, shaking his head. "Well, now I know what you need to learn. Your attacks are fierce, but your speed and defensive abilities are poor by comparison. That explains why you got so beat up back there."

Meili glared at the padded floor. "Fine, then. Let's get started." Meili slipped into a stance again. "How's this?" She asked.

"Your stance is too wide and clumsy." Asher remarked. He moved her arms to be closer together and straightened her back. "Your feet need to be close, but with enough space to move." He nudged her feet a bit closer to each other.

Meili sighed. "I like it better the way it was before…" she mumbled.

"Well, you don't have to like it." Asher replied. "This is only what will keep you safe. If you happen to turn suicidal at any moment, feel free to slip back into that sloppy position. Now show me how you throw a punch."  
>Meili swung her fist at the air, feeling her breath move with fluidity through her body to create her strength. Asher shook his head.<p>

"No. Your punches should not extend outward; they need to be close to your body, should you need to protect yourself. Now, try again" He stepped back to observe.

They trained for hours, and Meili was exhausted.

"Aren't we done yet?" Meili said. She had fallen on her knees, sweat dripping from her chin.

Asher smiled. "Come on, you're just starting to get better. You need to keep going."

Meili pushed herself back up, sighing. "Fine. This is our last match for today, then." She slipped into the corrected stance from before.

Asher nodded. "Sounds good." He stood in stance and launched the first attack, aiming a punch at Meili's stomach. She arched her back away to dodge, his fist brushing at the shirt she was wearing. When she regained her footing, Meili spun and kicked at his feet. Asher dodged her kick and grabbed Meili's foot.

"Damn!" Meili was immobile now. Asher twisted Meili's leg, eventually making her lose her balance and fall onto the mat.

"You were too slow on your kick. When you do a spin-kick, you need to move your foot out of the way before the enemy has time to counter." Asher started to walk out of the fitness room. "When you wake up tomorrow, come here again. Until then, I suggest you rest. A lot."

Meili slowly trudged her way back to the dorm, where she met Rin as he was coming out of the kitchen. It was late, and Meili could tell that Rin had just finished cooking.

"Oh, hi Rin." Meili sighed.

"Meili. Are you okay? You look awful." Rin said, looking genuinely concerned.

Meili rolled her eyes, then laughed a bit. "Gee thanks. I'm fine. Asher's just being real tough on me. We were sparring this whole time."

"All this time? You sure have a lot of endurance." Rin commented. "It takes a lot to be able to last that long."

"I'm still tired. Thanks, though. Talking to you did help me. Good night." Meili started walking up to her room, where she dropped lifelessly on her bed. She sighed as her muscles pulsed with pain from the day. Even with that, though, she still fell asleep within a few minutes.

_Hello Readers! This chapter was a bit troublesome for me, since I don't really have a lot of experience with writing out fight scenes. I used a bit of my roleplay experience, so I hope it worked out to where it sounded okay. _

_I'm thinking of starting a new fanfic… Maybe one with parallels of my friends and I. That would be something fun…_

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please keep reading!_


	15. Chapter 15

Meili woke to a sunless, dreary Sunday morning, a week after she'd begun her training. This was her day off. Meili had been training all the time besides school and cram school. All this time she felt like she should have burned tens of thousands of calories. She didn't feel sore anymore, and her muscles had gotten toned and more defined. Yesterday had been the first day she beat Asher in a sparring match, and so he had decided that she could have the day off today. He'd also mentioned that Monday, they would start working her demonic powers into her fighting. Already Meili could feel them growing with her own physical strength.

Meili's demonic powers had grown as she trained. She could now control her flames to an extent. She could make them appear and disappear, but it left her exhausted. Over this time, though, she'd gained immense endurance for physical fights. Meili hoped that extended to her flames.

As she lay in bed, debating whether to get up or not, a knock sounded on her door. Meili sat up. "Come in." She called lazily.

Rin walked into her room. "Uh, hi. I wanted to check on you. You seemed really exhausted yesterday."

Meili sat up in bed. She was, of course, still in her sleep clothes. The deviously short shorts hung on her hips and the tank top draped over her somewhat voluptuous figure. To put it simply, she was in great sleep clothes.

Rin sat in a chair opposite from her bed, and Meili swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "So," Rin said, looking off to the side. "Are you feeling okay?"

Meili smiled. "I'm feeling a lot better than last night. I think I only needed a good night's sleep."

Rin's eyes avoided Meili. "That's good. I'm glad you're okay."

Meili frowned. Why was Rin refusing to look at her? Was something wrong with her? She quickly checked to make sure she hadn't grown a third arm or anything that would freak him out.

"Is something wrong with me?" She finally asked Rin. "You're not looking at me."

Rin blushed, and their eyes locked. "You just look… really nice."

Meili almost laughed. "I just woke up. I haven't brushed my hair or anything today."

"It's not so much that…" Rin sighed. "It's not your hair or your clothing that looks nice. It's just you altogether."

"Thanks… I guess?" Meili smiled. "You know, you're kind of cute, too." She leaned forward, her tail arching behind her. She reached a hand toward him, cupping his cheek in her palm.

Rin was looking feverish now, his ears red as tomatoes. Meili smiled and leaned further toward him, until their faces were within inches of each other. Some part of her was wondering where she got the courage to do this, but it was lost in the haze that filled her mind.

"Rin… You're someone pretty important to me. You know that, right? The kind of feelings I have for you?" Meili finally locked eyes with Rin.

He leaned gently into Meili's hand that still lingered on his cheek. "If I didn't know, I'd be an idiot. I feel the same."

Meili leaned forward again, kissing Rin. It was not a deep kiss, but more of a sweet brush of their lips. They were about to continue, but Meili's phone rang on her desk. She rolled her eyes and grabbed it, flipping it open.

"It's from Yukio, for all of the cram school students. He wants us to meet in the front of the academy." She told Rin. They both shared a mental sigh and Rin got up to leave, stopping at the door.

"You really are an amazing person." He said, smiling. With that one sentence, he walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

Meili paused a moment, then all that had happened in the last few minutes hit her. She blushed furiously as she rummaged through her clothes. Her emotions in more of a mess than her closet, she sat down and took a few breaths. In a few minutes, she'd done more romantically than in her lifetime. She'd been mistrustful of most boys, probably because they always picked on her when she was a child, but Rin was different. He gave her the feeling that he would help her no matter what.

Realizing that she still needed to go meet the rest of the cram school students, Meili pushed those thoughts away and got dressed. After running a brush through her hair, she pulled it back into her ponytail and left, meeting up with Rin outside. They walked together to the meet-up in silence, both feeling slightly awkward but very happy.

_Hello! I'm here once again. Sorry I've been so late. I'm in my later senior year, and I have been soooo busy. I moved into a house from an apartment, so I lost access to my internet until I hooked it up myself. Before that, I went to New York on a choir trip for 5 days, and then took the rest of that week to recover from sleep deprivation. So it wasn't __all__ my fault that this is so late!_


	16. Chapter 16

Meili finally felt the awkward atmosphere dissolve when she and Rin met up with the rest of the cram school students. Yukio was still absent, so they were all standing around without really knowing what they were there for. As Meili was about to speak when Yukio finally did arrive, carrying a bundle of papers.

"Okumura-sensei." Izumo greeted.

"Hello." Yukio replied. "Now, I called you all here for a few missions. I'll pair you up into teams and you each will get one. Izumo and Shiemi, you are assigned to clear the girl's dorm's attic of coal tars and goblins, should you find any. Bon and Shima, you are to do the same to the boy's dorm's attic. Miwa and Takara, you are to inspect the unused rooms in the academic wing. And Meili and Rin, you are assigned to the wooded areas." Yukio handed out the papers to all of the groups, and Meili took hers and Rin's. After looking through the papers, each group left, and Meili and Rin headed towards the trees.

It wasn't long after Meili and Rin were out of sight of the academy that hobgoblins began attacking. Rin didn't hesitate to unsheathe his sword when the first attacked, nearly surprising Meili. From then on, they were both fighting. Rin with his sword wreathed in blue flame, and Meili with her fists.

Meili had just dealt the last hobgoblin a blow that sent it flying into a nearby tree when they just stopped coming.

"That can't be all of them. This is a pretty huge campus." Rin frowned, lowering his sword.

Meili cocked her head to the side. "Maybe their regrouping somewhere. The nest? Maybe we're close."

"Maybe." Rin said, heading further into the trees.

Meili looked around before following him. As they walked, the sunshine bled through the leaves, leaving little spots of light on their skin and on the grass. "This place is kind of nice." She said, breathing in and sighing. "It's quiet and out of the way."

Rin looked over to her. "You are okay, aren't you?"

Meili nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, you've gone through a ton of crap lately, yet you always seem okay with your life. I just want to make sure you're keeping in touch with reality." Rin slowed down to walk next to her, grasping her hand in his own.

Meili smiled softly. "It's not that I'm okay with it. There's nothing I can do to fix it, right? If I can't do anything to change it, I'd rather just go with the flow. I mostly get frustrated when I know I can do something better. Right now, I'm just doing everything I can to become stronger."

"And what about that guy?" Rin asked. "The one who attacked you before?"

"Kurai…I don't want to fight him. That is, if he really is family. But if he insists on bringing trouble here to me and my friends, I won't show any mercy." Meili shook her head. "Anyway, let's find that nest of hobgoblins." She took the lead, heading deeper into the forest.

As they walked, it began to grow darker. Either it was getting late, or the trees were getting thicker. Meili figured it was the latter, as it was midday still. Soon they had to dodge branches and vines, and they reached an incredibly thick tangle of tree trunks, bushes, and long vines.

"Damn. It's too thick to go through." Rin whacked his sheathed sword on a tree trunk that was a part of the thicket.

Meili put her hand on it. "Lemme climb up and get a look." She found a foothold in a fork of branches and began to climb. More than a dense part of the trees, it was like all of these things had been pulled together to create a large lump of greenery. She climbed up almost halfway when she reached an opening in the plants. "Hey," She called down to Rin. "I found a way to get in. Do you want me to go ahead?"

Rin backed up to look at her. "Just be careful!" He called back.

Right as Meili turned to start crawling inside, a large hobgoblin flew out and knocked her off the structure and into the air. Luckily, Rin saw this and raced forward, catching her in his arms. He set Meili on her feet and she turned, looking for the hobgoblin, which was rounding its path toward them. Meili stood in her stance and threw a punch that collided with the demon, destroying it on impact.

"I guess this is the nest." She concluded. As she finished speaking, more demons began spilling out of the nest, but Rin and Meili stood back to back, holding their ground. Eventually, the queen of this hobgoblin nest crashed through the structure, sending bits of wood and plant flying.

Meili looked over at Rin. "You go ahead. I'll watch your back." She watched as Rin began running toward the Hobgoblin queen, and then she took over fighting the hobgoblins that were still swarming around. Rin's flames surged as he prepared to give his finishing blow to the giant hobgoblin. He jumped among the tattered remains of the nest to get to a proper position above the huge demon, and then he brought his sword down the middle of its face. The demon screeched then died, fading away as the blue flames reduced it to ashes.

Meili, who'd just finished off the last of the lower hobgoblins, sighed and walked over to Rin. He'd stumbled and fallen among the plants and branches. Meili smiled and held out her hand.

"You okay?" She asked.

Rin grinned and took her hand, letting her pull him to his feet. "Yeah. I'm great."

_Hey! I finally finished a chapter! But I promised myself I wouldn't upload a chapter to one of my fanfics unless I uploaded one to my other fanfic._

_I'm finally settling into my new home, and I'm getting ready for all the final things of senior year, like prom and graduation. Over all, I think my biggest accomplishment is having kept this fanfic going and not leaving it to die. It makes me happy to know that some of the people who read this have been with it since the beginning._

_Anyway, I'm done with my little nostalgia leak, so I hope you liked this. Please give me your thoughts on this chapter!_


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